Please join us for afternoon tea on for our 7th annual Peacenic. Sunday 5th May, 2024.
The Peacenic Story
Each church, mosque, temple or sport club in our local area connects with a unique section of our community. We want to provide an opportunity for people in all sections of community to build friendships with their neighbours.
Launching in 2016, Peacenic grew out of a desire to replace the polarising bad-news stories that dominate media attention with real experiences of hospitality and friendship in our own backyard. The simplest gift of sharing our time and lunch together is rewarding in itself, but perhaps goes beyond that to offer a glimpse of the world as it could be.
Within our increasingly mutli-religious and multi-ethnic community, we want to help build bridges across the divisions that have historically separated us. A useful first step towards understanding is to simply meet together as families and individuals and to share simple things like food, conversation, and your favourite “backyard” sport.
The purpose of “peacenic” is not to downplay or ignore the differences between the Christian and Muslim faiths, but to find a starting point that might lead to friendship in the presence of difference.
May Road War Memorial Park
May Road War Memorial Park is an open space, combining sports fields, community facilities, and areas for quiet contemplation.
Named after early settler Joseph May, the War Memorial title was added to the park in 1955 following the opening of the War Memorial Hall.
You’ll also find a playground, skate park, basketball courts, and all-ages fitness equipment area near the main car park.
Where?
13 May Road, Mount Roskill - enter from the May Road carpark and gather near the playground.
Bring your cricket set or wander around the nearby greenery. There’s plenty of parking but be sure to arrive early.
A special invitation to our neighbours from the Jewish faith
With tragic conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza, the need to build bridges across historical divisions is as relevant today as it ever was. Our friends at the Wellington Abrahamic Council host an annual Peacenic that brings together Muslims, Christians and Jews, and this year we would like to follow suit at the Peacenic event in Auckland.
We appreciate that it is a busy time of year, following Eid al Fitr, Pesach (Passover), and falling close to other events, but members of all the Abrahamic faiths are warmly invited to attend as they feel able to. The recent 5-year anniversary of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks reminds us that tragedy can strike close to home. Wounds like this will take a generation of compassionate efforts to heal and gives us renewed focus on the importance of engagement, genuine understanding, and inclusiveness across our community.
While these tragedies are never far from our hearts and minds, they are not the focus of the day. Peacenic is about taking the time to enjoy simple hospitality and friendship. Appreciating our communities and differences. Organised by the Council of Christians and Muslims, this is an event for the benefit and enjoyment of all New Zealanders.
